Response to Democracy Now Report: 10/17/11
The Democracy Now: War and Peace Report that aired this Monday covered national and international topics including: the global protests against bank and corporate greed, armed conflicts in Africa, the dedication of the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial, the new Alabama immigration law, and the continuing unrest in the Middle East. There were many positive and encouraging stories in this new segment, which is a rare occurrence nowadays. The positive events however, need to be taken with a grain of salt, because they also expose many of the dark things that are taking place in the Unites States and the across the globe. The common theme shared by these events, most notably the protests taking place around the world; is the disgruntled majority of the global population uniting and speaking out against the power-holding minority. Demonstrators taking part in these protests are upset because they feel as though the top 1% in many countries, are sacrificing the well-being of the other 99% for selfish reasons.
The Occupy Wall Street protest that started about a month ago is still occurring and has grown exponentially. This demonstration has ignited a global movement that has inspired protesters to take to the streets in 1,500 cities worldwide. The largest such protest on Monday took place in Rome, where 200,000 joined in the city’s streets. It is still unclear as to what exactly these protesters want to happen, and they have not yet united in demanding common solutions. The protesters do agree that the practices of the major banks, corporations, and public policy makers; are sabotaging the opportunities and well being of the other 99% of the population. They believe that the greed and financial interests of the elite 1% have trumped the needs of the general population in government policy making, and that this needs to change. Many famous figures have joined in support of the protesters: documentary filmmaker Michael Moore in New York, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London, actor and activist Danny Glover in Oakland, and Princeton Professor Cornell West in Washington D.C., among others.
Demonstrations in U.S. have been met with hostility by government and law enforcement. Hundreds of peaceful protesters have been arrested across the U.S., simply for refusing to leave from the areas they were protesting in. One women in New York City who was trying to withdraw her money from Citi Bank, was arrested and dragged away by police for no apparent reason. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg considered forcing the protesters to leave their spot, and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said that; “The protestors shouldn’t blame Wall Street, it is their own fault if they don’t have jobs and that they’re not rich.” President Obama however, did speak in support of the protestors while giving a speech at the dedication of the new MLK memorial in Washington D.C.
Other stories that caught my attention was the U.S. sending troops to Uganda, and a federal appeals court blocking part of the harsh Alabama immigration law. The United States has deployed 100 special operations soldiers to Uganda to help fight the rebel leader Joseph Kony. Kony is maniacal madmen who forces child soldier to fight for him, and there is no doubt that the world would be better without him in it. However, Uganda was recently the site of a massive oil discovery, which leads me to question the true motives of this troop deployment. The new Alabama immigration law faced a setback, when a federal appeals court said that it could no longer question the citizenship of public school students.
No comments:
Post a Comment